Alathnia
by Kyle Myers
Summary: A story about a mysterious elf, who wakes up one day in an unknown cave. The remnants of a Dark Elf camp.
1. The Awakining

Lemas woke up with a start and looked around him. His vision was blurred but things were beginning to become clear. He was lying on a cold stone floor covered in straw and tools. In the corner he could see a rusted old furnace and an anvil. The walls were made of a deep red earth... he appeared to be underground. He pulled himself up slowly and staggered over to a small wooden stool. He sat down and tried to think about what had happened, where he was, but he found he could not remember a thing. He could remember pieces of information about himself however, he knew he was a warlock... he knew how to fight and how to shoot but he could not remember where he had learnt or any details of his life. He knew there was no point in sitting there, it would accomplish nothing. He stood up and reached his hand towards the wall attempting to use his magic, one of the sword's that littered the walls came loose from it's holding and flew towards him, catching it he examined it. The sword although slightly rusted still seemed to have its strength. The blade was clearly Iron as it was rusted, as was the hilt. He could make out some runes on the blade.  
  
The runes were Elfish and read "Justice" in Elvlish "Tiranoe". "Tiranoe" he smiled then stepped back and dropped the sword suddenly out of shock. At the sound of it's name the rust had been absorbed into the sword and it was left now... gleaming as if new. Lemas stepped forward cautiously and picked up the sword, the hilt was strangely warm and tingled in his hand. He stepped over to the door and tried it, but it was shut fast. Grunting he stepped back and drove his foot through the rotten wood... he kicked the wooden door to pieces.  
  
He stepped out the shattered door and looked around him, he realised he was in a large earth corridor. There was only one direction he could go so he headed straight on down the corridor, the walls were littered with carvings, deep carvings of animals and strange creatures never before seen to him save in a few books of lore. The carvings had been well worn out however at this stage and deep as they were, most parts of them could not be seen among the crumbling earth. Soon he came to a crossroads, deciding which way to turn proved hard for him but he decided to go with his eyes and chose the way that seemed less dark, and less dangerous.  
  
Following the path he came to an opening and stepped through it found himself in a large hall. The hall seemed to be a colloseme. He was in a large open area with a sanded floor, all around him were large walls, and doors placed in random spots on the walls were covered with portcullises, presumable to keep something out... but obviously to let it in at a select time. Above the walls were large stands with many layers of what you could only call primitive seats, carved from stone. A large wooden area in the centre of the seats could be seen which was ver y well made and excellently preserved whereas the rock had been eroded and chipped away by time, this wooden area was obviously meant for royalty and carved into the wood was the phrase "Tirno, mar alath", Long Live the King in Elvish.  
  
Lemas thought to himself and eventually came to the conclusion that this was once home to a race of dark elves, the Dark Elves unlike their cousins were not friendly creatures, they had use for Coliseums and other such horrific "sports" and they were also good smiths unlike Elves who refused to have anything to do with the metal of the Dwarves. This would explain for the sword Lemas had found earlier... obviously enchanted with some of the Elvish Dark Magic famous in the old scrolls, which was why it had magically restored it's self. Now the Justice mark became clear to him, the Dark Elves had been expelled from the Elvish race and had sought Justice to those who had expelled them, this sword was clearly meant to fight his kind in the Great War... thankfully it had never got it's chance. Lemas sat down and rested himself, thinking about all he had seen. 


	2. A Walk In Slime

Walking through one of the large doors in the wall shivered as the air suddenly turned cold, he was no longer in the friendly earth caverns he had been wandering through before, he now found himself walking through arched tunnels of a black stone. Algae and wet moss clung to the walls, water dripping from the roof as if he was beneath a large river. Following the hallway he treaded carefully along the slippery floor, avoiding the deep puddles that littered it.  
  
He soon came to a small room on the left side of the passage, the door was missing and the stone floor was littered with broken rubble and rocks, there was a large wooden ladder in the corner of the room stretching through the roof. Lemas could see nothing of importance in the room so stepping over the rubble he approached the ladder, he gripped it, pulling at it to test it's strength. It did not budge and appeared to be capable of holding his weight, it was as black as night above however and he could not tell what dangers lurked above, or even how far he would have to climb.  
  
Lemas shuddered at the thought of what might lurk up there however he was underground and the most sensible thing to do would be to head up, he decided to climb. He looked once more and cursed himself, then began to climb. He climbed higher and higher, slowly loosing the dim light from the tunnel beneath him, soon it had vanished out of sight, however far above him, he could see a faint eerie glow penetrating the black. The green glow got stronger and stronger as he climbed. Soon he felt a ledge above the ladder, pulling himself up he gasped for breath as he law exhausted on the floor. He looked around him; he was in a tunnel as before but the earth was darker and there was no natural the light, the light, the glow he could see was lighting the whole area. It was from a small stream of eerie green water... slime, a foot or so wide running along the side of the tunnel. Lemas knelt down beside the stream and looked at it closely, it appeared to be a translucent green slime, he could see right through it, and it was not deep. It continued and turned a corner in the tunnel where he lost sight of it. Pulling himself to his feet he walked slowly towards the corner.  
  
Turning the corner Lemas froze in shock. He was standing in a dark narrow tunnel with walls and a roof of earth, the tunnel could not have been more than 20 foot wide however it stretched and twisted in length as far as the eye could see. Before him there was a river of the green liquid, it looked extremely deep and he could see the bottom far below, only illuminated by the glow of the slime. He walked slowly along the rivers edge, it was narrow and he was careful not to fall... god knows what could happen in their. The tunnel seemed never ending and as he walked the river dimmed and darkness began to swallow the tunnel, soon the eerie green glow had become little more than a dim dying light, now dark green as opposed to the bright colour at which it had begun. Lemas began to get worried and quickened his pace. Thankfully the light did not dim any deeper and he was left with enough site to see, the river soon ended and he found himself at a dock of sorts... it was an odd looking place, no boats, no jetty but some ropes tied to rocks sticking from the ground beside the river. It appeared to have been used recently.  
  
Lemas stepped over to the soft ground beside the river and examined it carefully looking for any signs of life. He found small footprints... small enough to be that of a child however sharp and pointed. "Gnomes", he muttered to himself and stepped briskly away from the soft ground being careful not to leave any footprints, the last thing he wanted was gnomes on his trail. Lemas sat on one of the rocks for a time... facing away from the river, no gnome was going to surprise him. He tried to think of what to do next however he could think of nothing, it was clear going back the way he came was no good at this stage, however the way forward was obviously blocked by the gnomes, and small as they are... it is not nice to run into a group of them. Especially not nice when your in their terrain, there tunnels. It is impossible to outrun a gnome when he knows his surroundings better than you... but that is true of most things in their home.   
  
Presently Lemas heard voices, small... quite, highpitched voices. He ran over and pressed himself against a shadowed corner of the wall, thank god the river hid is footprints. 


End file.
